Animal cruelty on social media and how AI could help stop it

Trigger warning: this post covers the topic of animal cruelty. It has a somewhat positive twist at the end, but if this is something that really gets to you, please skip this post.

We’ve all seen the cute animal content that floods our social media channels. And it’s no secret that a lot of these images and videos are based on some form of animal cruelty or another. New Zealand journalist David Farrier wrote an excellent piece about this on Webworm last year ("Facebook has an animal torture empire", link below), and since reading it, I always wonder about the story behind any animal content I see on social media. From pygmy hippo Moo Deng to cats and dogs dressed in funny costumes, there’s a lot going on online to gain clicks and likes, which isn’t always in the best interest of the animal.

The Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), a network of respected animal welfare organisations, has documented how social media giants like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook host thousands of videos depicting everything from fake animal rescues - where animals are intentionally put in danger for dramatic effect - to the abuse and exploitation of pet macaques and other species.

These videos can attract billions of views, normalising cruelty and encouraging content creators to stage ever more extreme scenarios for profit and engagement. Despite clear platform policies against such abuse, enforcement is inconsistent, and the financial incentives for creators remain high.

How AI can help

Detection: AI as a tool for identifying animal cruelty

Artificial intelligence offers promising solutions for tackling the flood of animal cruelty content online. AI-powered systems can be trained to automatically detect and flag videos or images that depict abuse, neglect, or staged rescues, reducing the reliance on users to report harmful material. With the sheer volume of content uploaded every minute, scalable AI moderation is essential for platforms to enforce their own policies and remove abusive videos before they go viral.

However, the effectiveness of AI depends on the quality and diversity of its training data. If AI models are trained on a narrow set of examples, they may miss less obvious or newly emerging forms of cruelty. Regular updates and collaboration with animal welfare experts are crucial to ensure these systems remain accurate and responsive to evolving tactics used by content creators.

Gaining clicks through AI-generated content instead of harming animals

A significant and positive shift is underway: many creators are now turning to AI-generated animal videos to capture attention and engagement, without putting real animals at risk. Viral videos featuring fantastical or mutated animals - such as creatures with a seal’s body and a cow’s head - have been widely shared on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Investigations have confirmed that these are AI-generated, not real, and are produced using accessible tools like Leonardo AI and Hailuo AI.

This trend offers a clear benefit: it removes the incentive to harm or exploit live animals for online fame and profit. Creators can achieve viral success and monetise their content by using AI to generate imaginative, entertaining, or even educational animal videos, all without causing real-world suffering.

Nevertheless, there are new challenges. AI-generated videos can be so realistic that viewers may be misled into believing they depict genuine animals, potentially spreading misinformation. Algorithms may even amplify this content if it drives engagement.

It is essential that creators and platforms clearly label AI-generated content (similar to China’s Labeling Rules that will take effect on 1 September 2025) and that viewers remain critical and discerning about what they see online.

By embracing AI both as a tool for detection and as a creative alternative, social media can move towards a future where animal cruelty is no longer a source of entertainment or profit. The challenge now is to ensure these technologies are used responsibly, transparently, and always with animal welfare at the forefront.

Further reading

• David Farrier: Webworm - Facebook has an animal torture factory

• World Animal Protection US: Internet sensation Moo Deng belongs in the wild, not the zoo

• Four Paws Australia: Petfluencing or cruel influencing?

• Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC): various reports

• Animal Asia: Spot the scam - How social media profits from animal cruelty in fake rescue videos

• Inside Privacy: China releases new labeling requirements for AI-generated content